- Pakistan Rupee (PKR) falls for a second session
- Karachi 100 has dropped 3% in 2 days
- US Dollar (USD) trends lower versus major peers
- US CPI and bond auction in focus tomorrow
The US Dollar Pakistan Rupee (USD/PKR) exchange rate is extending gains on Tuesday for a second consecutive session. The pair settled +0.1% higher at 156.54 on in the previous session. At 11:15 UTC, USD/PKR trades +0.3% at 157.03.
The Rupee is tracing the domestic equity market lower. The benchmark Karachi 100 index trades -2.4% at the time of writing. Today’s move lower is an extension of the sell off on Monday which saw the Karachi 100 slump 1.7%.
Concerns over inflation amid rising oil prices along with continued political noise have aided the sell off in Pakistan equities and the Rupee.
Oil prices have been on a bull run in recent weeks supported by the reopening of global economies amid the covid vaccine rollout. Political tensions in Saudi Arabia also briefly pushed oil prices to 2 year highs in the previous session.
Rising oil prices is bad news for Pakistan. The country’s account deficit is already starting to expand and the impact of higher oil prices has yet to come.
The US Dollar is slipping lower in risk on trade and as US treasury yields decline. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus its major peers trades -0.4% at the time of writing as it moves away from multi month highs.
US 10-year treasury yields are moving southwards on Tuesday. Yield had hit 1.62% on Monday a pre-pandemic high after the US Senate passed the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion covid stimulus bill. However, calming words from central bankers and an intervention by Chinese authorities in the Chinese stock market has ease concerns, at least for now.
US treasury yields have slipped lower to 1.52% at the time of writing.
Whether yields will be able to remain at this lower level depends largely on demand at tomorrow’s US bond auctions and the release of the US Consumer Price Index inflation gauge.
